FY23 CPD Accreditation 

Cohort Annual Report 

Matthew Lysakowski

Gilbert Moore 

Elizabeth Simpson 
2 

Introduction 

Law enforcement agency (LEA) accreditation is a self-initiated process of adopting and maintaining standardized policies and procedures. LEAs operate within a specific set of state- and 

nationally recognized standards that are determined and defined by accreditation bodies. To 

obtain accreditation, an LEA must work with a state or national accreditation body to develop 

and adopt a specific set of operational standards, the number of which varies by accreditation 

entity, and maintain compliance during the accreditation period. Tribal LEAs may seek accreditation through either state or national accreditation bodies. 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services (COPS Office) support agency accreditation and recognize the importance of adhering 

to the highest standards of police policies and operations. The community benefits when its 

law enforcement personnel follow standardized policies and procedures that provide efficient, 

effective, and fair policing. Agency accreditation helps to ensure the accountability and transparency that can enhance community confidence and trust in law enforcement. 

Since 2021, the COPS Office has supported accreditation efforts through a separate funding 

opportunity of the Community Policing Development (CPD) program. Accreditation solicitations vary from year to year but have included the following subcategories: 

•	 Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation. Establishment of accreditation entities in 

states that do not have an accreditation body. 

•	 Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement Accreditation Entities. Support and enhancement of existing law enforcement accreditation bodies to increase the number of 

agencies accredited. 

•	 Supporting Law Enforcement Agencies in Seeking Accreditation. Funds costs such 

as officer overtime, accreditation fees, and policy software related to obtaining law 

enforcement accreditation from an existing state or national law enforcement accreditation entity. 

•	 Accreditation Resources and Implementation Support. Development of a national 

marketing program and provision of technical assistance in support of law enforcement accreditation. 

•	 Supporting Tribal Agency Accreditation. Support of an accreditation body in assisting tribal law enforcement agencies through the accreditation process. [Offered in 

2021 only] 
 

3 

Accreditation Awards 

In 2023, the COPS Office received 103 accreditation applications across all subcategories and 

funded 47 organizations and agencies for $8,139,568 (see appendix A for the full list of recipients). The FY 2023 funding is a significant increase from the FY 2022 total of $3,800,738, with 

a similar number of applicants (in FY22 there were 109 applications across all subcategories 

and 56 funded organizations and agencies). The FY 2023 funding included three awards under 

Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation, eight awards under Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities, one award under Accreditation Resources and Implementation Support, and 

35 awards under the Supporting Law Enforcement Agencies in Seeking Accreditation category. 

Table 1. Accreditation bodies and entities that received an award in 2023 

Accreditation body Award category 

Alaska Municipal League Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation 

Iowa Police Chiefs Association Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation 

Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, Inc. Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation 

Arizona Chiefs of Police Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 

Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police 

Foundation, Inc. 

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 

Indiana Law Enforcement Accreditation 

Commission, Inc. 

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 

New Hampshire Department of Justice 

Office of the Attorney General 

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 

The New Mexico Association of Counties Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 

Rhode Island Police Accreditation 

Commission 

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 

Department of Criminal Justice Services 

Virginia 

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 

Washington Association of Sheriffs and 

Police Chiefs 

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 
4 FY23 CPD Accreditation Cohort Annual Report

 

For the Supporting Law Enforcement Agencies in Seeking Accreditation category, the 35 recipients 

include 23 municipalities, five sheriffs’ offices, five campus agencies, and two state level agencies across 18 states (see figure 1). 

Figure 1. Types of law enforcement agencies 

funded in 2023 by agency type (n=35) 

State, 2 

Municipal, 23 

Campus, 5 

Sheriff, 5 

Total awards from Fiscal Years 2021 through 2023 for the Accreditation program are shown 

in table 2. 

Table 2. Total accreditation awards by subcategory, 2021–2023 

Solicitation No. of awards Total award amount 

Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation 4 $1,365,195 

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement 

Accreditation Entities 20 $4,158,807 

Supporting Law Enforcement Agencies 

in Seeking Accreditation 124 $12,545,184 

Accreditation Resources and 

Implementation Support 1 $250,000 

Supporting Tribal Agency Accreditation 1 $148,498 

Total 150 $18,467,684
5 

CPD Accreditation cohort 

To manage the Accreditation cooperative agreements and grants, a team of Community 

Policing Advancement (CPA) Directorate staff, termed the Accreditation Cohort, works 

cooperatively with all recipients to support award management and oversight. In addition, the 

Accreditation Cohort provides technical assistance to support project management and implementation, as well as training opportunities via multimedia resources—for example, a webinar 

to highlight successes and lessons learned for other agencies seeking accreditation. 

Since October 2022, the Accreditation Cohort’s accomplishments have included the following: 

• Individual kickoff meetings for all cooperative agreement recipients in the fall of 2022 

• A kickoff meeting for 2022 grant award recipients on December 1, 2022 with 81 individual 

attendees, at which the following topics were presented: 

 Overview of COPS Office 

 Accreditation Award Overview and Objectives 

 Award Package and Recipient Materials 

 JustGrants Navigation 

 Summary 

• Internal coordination via regular meetings and communication channels 

• Maintenance of the Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) Accreditation web page 

(https://cops.usdoj.gov/LEA_accreditation), which launched in the Community Policing 

Topics resources section of the COPS Office website on May 19, 2022, and has an interactive map of state and national accreditation bodies with links to the organizations and 

links to resources and publications related to accreditation and is updated on a regular 

basis by the cohort 

• Coordination of two articles for the Community Policing Dispatch monthly newsletter on 

accreditation topics: 

 In the October 2022 issue, “The New Mexico Association of Counties Adds Sheriffs’ 

Accreditation Program.” This article describes the development of a new law enforcement accreditation program for county sheriff’s offices in the state. 

 In the November 2023 issue, “Accreditation for Tribal Law Enforcement: Voices from 

the Field.” This article describes four tribal law enforcement agencies that have discovered the benefits of accreditation. 
6 

Agency Accreditation Progress 

COPS Office funding allows award recipients to obtain any state or national accreditation. 

Generally, accreditation is a five-step process: (1) enrollment, (2) self-assessment, (3) assessment, 

(4) commission review and decision, and (5) maintaining compliance and reaccreditation. All 

of the 15 law enforcement agency accreditation awards that have ended saw significant progress 

toward achieving accreditation, with five achieving accreditation during the grant period. 

Figure 2. Agency accreditation progress for law enforcement 

agency awards that have ended (n=15)

Accreditation phases at Accreditation phases at 

beginning of grant end of grant 

Enrollment 

Enrollment 

60% 

Self-assessment 

40% 

7% 

Maintaining 

compliance and 

reaccreditation 

36% 

Selfassessment 

21% 

Assessment 

36% 
7 

Future Accreditation Support 

In FY 2023 the COPS Office funded a new project under the Accreditation Resources and 

Implementation Support solicitation. This solicitation was intended to aid in the development of 

a national marketing program and provision of technical assistance in support of law enforcement accreditation, especially for agencies that have been funded under the COPS Office Law 

Enforcement Agencies Seeking Accreditation program. The National Policing Institute (NPI) 

was selected as the recipient under this solicitation. 

NPI will (1) develop a national outreach and marketing campaign, working collaboratively with 

state- and national-level accreditation bodies to (a) reach nonaccredited agencies, with a particular emphasis on smaller agencies, and (b) promote the sustainment of accreditation among 

agencies that have already achieved accreditation and (2) establish a peer-to-peer virtual community of practice for COPS Office Supporting LEAs Seeking Accreditation grantees using NPI’s 

existing expertise and capabilities through the Higher Logic online community platform. 
8 

Appendix. FY23 CPD 

Accreditation Recipients 

State Agency Name Award Amount 

Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation 

AK ALASKA MUNICIPAL LEAGUE $407,003 

IA IOWA POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION $499,604 

MN MINNESOTA CHIEFS OF POLICE ASSOCIATION, INC. $358,588 

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement Accreditation Entities 

AZ ARIZONA CHIEFS OF POLICE $295,856 

GA GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF 

POLICE FOUNDATION, INC. $300,000

IN INDIANA LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCREDITATION 

COMMISSION, INC. $294,423 

NH NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL $300,000

NM THE NEW MEXICO ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES $58,611 

RI RHODE ISLAND POLICE ACCREDITATION COMMISSION $132,518 

VA DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE 

SERVICES VIRGINIA $292,576 

WA WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF SHERIFFS 

AND POLICE CHIEFS $214,427 

Accreditation Resources and Implementation Support 

VA NATIONAL POLICING INSTITUTE $250,000 

Support Law Enforcement Agencies Seeking Accreditation 

CT COLCHESTER, TOWN OF $153,806 

CT TOWN OF DEEP RIVER $160,000 

FL CITY OF HIALEAH $246,486 

GA CITY OF STOCKBRIDGE $160,000 

IL CITY OF COLLINSVILLE CITY HALL $35,146 

KS CITY OF PARSONS $139,255 
Appendix. FY23 CPD Accreditation Recipients 9 

MA CITY OF BOSTON $250,000 

MA CITY OF FITCHBURG $114,816 

MA LEICESTER, TOWN OF $67,921 

MA NORTH SHORE COMMUNITY COLLEGE $54,541 

MA STOW POLICE DEPARTMENT $139,278 

MA TOWN OF HOPEDALE $114,368 

MA TOWN OF SHERBORN POLICE DEPARTMENT $58,845 

MA TOWN OF TOWNSEND $106,515 

MI TOWNSHIP OF GROSSE ILE $132,789 

NC BUNCOMBE, COUNTY OF $249,835 

NC ONSLOW, COUNTY OF $215,440 

NC TOWN OF FUQUAY VARINA $138,477 

NJ COUNTY OF BURLINGTON $250,000 

NY TOWN OF CARMEL TOWN HALL $113,175 

OK TULSA COMMUNITY COLLEGE $160,000 

PA BOROUGH OF CATASAUQUA $102,129 

PA BOROUGH OF SWISSVALE $41,425 

PA BOROUGH OF WILSON $112,750 

PA LEWISTOWN BOROUGH OF $91,695 

PA UPPER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP $127,386 

PA WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE $47,240 

SC CITY OF LANCASTER $109,455 

SC NATURAL RESOURCES SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT $160,000 

TN TOWN OF WESTMORELAND $108,332 

VA COUNTY OF SHENANDOAH $160,000 

VA DICKENSON, COUNTY OF $150,432 

WA WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY $133,178 

WI UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM $81,254 

WV WV DIVISION OF NATURAL RESOURCES $249,993 
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

145 N Street NE

Washington, DC 20530 

To obtain details about COPS Office programs, call 

the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770. 

Visit the COPS Office online at cops.usdoj.gov. 

e112316069 

Published 2023